Reply from Amanda It is an interesting step in the medical insurance route for

Reply from Amanda
It is an interesting step in the medical insurance route for two very successful companies to make the effort to help ones who are struggling without medical insurance. However, there is always a catch in my opinion. Yes, the efforts are heading towards a positive or with good intentions. With Amazon it’s for prime members which is a subscription service so it is still costly, but it is somewhat affordable. With Walmart they are helping with expanding more medical or healthcare clinics which is nice because there are more options for people who don’t have health insurance and can have more choices. So I do find it quite interesting, but it is still fairly new so I’m sure more developments or changes are to come within the years as those services progress, but who knows. It can open much bigger and better things in the future for the healthcare community.
Reply from Esperanza
With a growing number of “big box” retailers investing heavily and staking their futures on primary care, the industry is awash with speculation as to what it all means to various healthcare stakeholders. Amazon, CVS, and Walgreens are all makin inroads into the primary care space, with offerings ranging from urgent care to specialty care and even in-home health, and in the process, are disrupting the status quo and how patient care moves through the system. (Forbes)
Perhaps the most important questions center on how all of this will impact patient care and advance value-based models. With so many new entrants providing point services, the potential exists for patient care to become disjointed and for care quality to suffer. Both the new entrants could actually accelerate the momentum of value based care. (Forbes)
Rather than providing episodic visits for immunizations and ear infections, the goal of these clinics is to develop more lasting relationships with patients who begin to use the venters as their source of primary care. Walmart views the model as a particularly compelling option for its customers and employees in rural markets, where existing access to hospitals and physicians is limited by geography. (Harvard Business Review)
In late September, Costco announced it would offer $29 primary care visits while Amazon, with its Amazon Pharmacy and Amazon Clinic, is also taking significant steps to break into the consumer healthcare marketplace. Walmart also plans to open 75 of its so-called “supercenter” locations that physician visits, x rays and dental services among other healthcare options. (TheStreet)
“Health systems need to be looking to technology partners to solidify their positions to provide these care models that are becoming , more and more conventional models, which were previously non-existent five years ago”(Fiercehealthcare)
The healthcare industry changes rapidly, I do not believe we will stop seeing these big “box chain” retailers getting into the healthcare area, I believe private practices will possibly suffer as this seems to be growing within big companies, I think in order to stay above this, practices will need to find a way to also engage in this type of service. “It may offer a welcome alternative to payers seeking to expand the hospital-at-home model to reduce costs while meeting patients’ preferences. This could be good news for patients and the healthcare industry if it meets patients’ needs, keeps cost down, and does not sacrifice quality of safety” (Fiercehealthcare)